The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris. . . Revised April 2009 Basil Leaf Thai. Riverbend: 1438 S. Carrollton Ave.. 504-862-9001. Map. Lunch Monday-Friday. Dinner seven days. Casual AE DC MC V   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   I wish everybody who operates an Asian restaurant in New Orleans would take a night off for dinner at the Basil Leaf. Aside from being one of the two or three best Thai restaurants locally, it breaks an unspoken rule that keeps most Asian places from being what they could be. The Basil Leaf charges higher than bare-minimum prices, and delivers better-than-ordinary food, wine, service, and environment. This will upset those who mistakenly believe that Asian food must be cheap to be authentic, but the logic is hard to fault. And the food speaks for itself.   WHY IT'S GOOD   Chef Bank buys ingredients of fine quality, cooks them with imagination, and presents it beautifully on handsome plates. It’s the kind of food and creature comforts you’d get at a gourmet bistro, but with Thai food. He adds his own ideas to the standards, and the results are fresh and powerful without really watering down the Thai spirit. Seafood specials here are particularly good.   BACKSTORY   Chef Bank (Siam Titiparwat) opened the Basil Leaf first in Metairie, where it was a big hit in a secondary location. In 1999 he moved to a much more auspicious location in Carrollton, near the streetcar barn. (It's the former Streetcar Sandwiches location.) A handsome private dining room was added a few years later.   DINING ROOM   The front room's many, large windows admit lots of light and views of trees, although they're curtained off at the lower level to lend privacy to the diners next to them. The room in the rear has an almost library-like quality. Service is carried out by the usual assortment of young Uptowners.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Shrimp and pork dumplings. Seared scallop salad. Spring roll. Duck or chicken salad. Peppercorn-crusted tuna. Sauteed calamari. Pad Thai. Seafood pad Thai. Grilled chicken or beef noodle salads. Crabmeat and eggplant Napoleon. Green curry with chicken. Soft-shell crabs with sesame. Rack of lamb with basil rice.   FOR BEST RESULTS   Know that if you usually spend $15 in a Thai restaurant, you will spend $20 here. Try something offbeat; you can get the standards anywhere. There's usually a good wine program going on, allowing a mini-tasting at an attractive price.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   The food is a little inconsistent; the service more so.   FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD   Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter. Dining Environment +1 Consistency -1 Service Value +1 Attitude Wine and Bar +1 Hipness +1 Local Color +1   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Romantic Windows with a view Private dining room (fewer than 25) Private dining room (more than 25) Open Sunday Open Monday Vegetarian dishes Quick, good meal Easy, nearby parking Click here for an index to all 200 Essential Restaurant reviews. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com